Bar-indicator for preventing fraud in dispensing beverages.



PATBNTED JUNE 27, 1905.

H. A. BUFFER` NTING FRAUD IN DISPBNSING BEVBRAGBS.

APPLIOATION FILED APB. 18.1904.

BAR INDICATOR FOR PREVE UNTTED STATES atenten .Tune 27, 1905,

ATENT OFFICE.

HENRY A. RUETER, OF BOSTON, MASSAOHUSETTS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 793,232, dated June 27, 1905,

Application iiled April 18, 1904. Serial No. 203,601.

lie it known that V[,HnNuY A. Rowman, a citizen of the United States, and a residcntof Boston, in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, have invented an Indicator Apparatus 'for Preventing Frauds in Dispensing Beverages, of which the following is a specification.

My invention resides in providing means for enabling' the customer at a bar to know that he is being' served with the g'enuine beverage that he calls for.

One of the long'- recognized frauds, which it has seemed practicallyv impossible to counteract, is the imposition upon the customer of a fraudulent beverage instead of the one he calls for, the regular custom being to have a series of faucets just beneath the back edge of the counter or bar out of sight, each faucet controlling a particular kind or brand of ale or other beverage, so that when the customer calls for any particular brand or kind he has no means of knowing whether the proper liquor is being' drawn from the proper faucet or not. Various devices have been suggested; but notwithstanding' the ingenuity devoted to this subject there has been, so Vfar as I am aware, no means yet provided which accomplishes the desired result. Accordingly, to secure the desired result I take advantage of two elements-viz., the desire of the customer to get what he orders and the desire of the brewer to have his product delivered when called for, these two elements being availed of b v providing, in connection with the piping, &c., from the cellar or other remote place containing the separate sources of supply for the various bar-faucets, a series of indicators securely connected in such a manner that whenever the bartender' draws any liquor the act of operating the faucet for that particular liquor will cause a conspicuous and startling movement of the special indicator provided for that liquor or faucet. l'y thus forcibly attracting the attention of the customers the public is quickly educated to watch for the proper signal, being thereby led to recognize and rely upon the signal as an aid in getting' what they want, and by securely connecting' the signals to operate in connection with the piping system the brewer (because of the diliiculty and time required in changing the source of supply of any given pipe) has at hand a ready and sure means of detecting' any attempt at fraud simply by sending' in at unexpected intervals a teamster or other representative to see that the source of supply has not been altered and corresponds to the signal at the bar.

My invention aims to induce the customers and mamifacturer to cooperate in detecting and preventing' fraud, the customers being lcd to watch for the conspicuous movement of the proper indicator, as stated, and the manufacturer relying on the diliieulty of altering the connections between said indicator and the source of supply in the short interval between the inspection of the indicator by his representative and the time when he could g'et down cellar or wherever the kegs orothcr sources of supply are kept to examine the arrangement and connections thereof.

l prefer to attach the indicator directly to the handle of the faucet, so as to form a part thereof, so that it is visible when the faucet'is closed, but disappears in the act of opening' the faucet.

ln the drawings, in which I have shown a preferred embodiment of my invention, Figure l isa front elevation or a fragmentary portion of an ordinary bar, representing my invention in use. Fig. 2 is a perspective view thereof from the rear side of the bar. Fig. 3 is an enlarged detail in side elevation and partly in section.

For convenience of illustration l have shown an ordinary linner-dispensing bar comprising an upright portion (l, terminating in a rail d' at its front side, and a counter portion or bar proper, n2, beneath which the faucets a al 15, etc., are located, connected by suitable pipes n to the kegs or separate sources of supply. (Not shown.) Beneath the faucetsisa usual drainage-rack 17, on which the glasses or mugs are placed. As ordinarily arranged the faucet is just beneath the rear edge of the counter ai and is provided with an ordinary operatinghandle, as indicated at u, which also terminates beneath the counter entirely outof sight, the result being that when a customer at the rail f/ calls, for instance, vfoi-any given brand of ale the attendant or bartender operates any IOO Vhe sells.

faucet he may desire and the customer has no means of knowing from which faucet he is being served. This works not only afraudupon the customer, but a still greater fraud upon that manufacturer who is conscientiousl y trying to give the best product and build up his business by means of the merits of the goods By my invention I prevent this fraud not by a mere label or sign, (asI make no claim to a label per sa) but by providing a label or signal in such a position and so combined with other mechanism that it tends to eng'age the attention of the usually inattentive customer, who is thereby gradually educated or insensibly induced to look for the said indicator and call for his beverage either by naming or pointing to said indicator, which therefore becomes his reliance, and because of its mechanical connection, location, and arrangement (which make it convenient also for the manufacturer readily to detect and prevent attempted imposition) the customer soon becomes trained to note the appearance or disappearance or other radical and conspicuous change in position of the indicator. One of the essential characteristics of my invention is the provision of means for attracting' the notice and riveting the attention of the customer, and while this result may be accomplished in various i Yays without departing from the spirit and scope of my invention I prefer to accomplish it by a sudden or bold movement of the indicator sufficiently startling and conspicuous to lead the customer to notice the same. In this respect I wish to distinguish clearly from a mere label or sign commonly affixed or engraved on bottles and faucets for indicating either the contents or whether the faucet is open or closed, where the label is either entirely stationary or remains in substantially the same position all the time, its movement, if any, being so slight as not to attract attention. Also my invention is to be distinguished from a mere tag or label sometimes connected with the self-closing stopper of a portable syrup-jar or the like. My invention operates in connection with high-pressure apparatus, (ale, for instance, having upward of eighty pounds pressure of carbonic gas per square inch,) and the faucet, operating means, and indicator are all so constructed and connected with the pressure-pipes as to be unaffected by the high pressure within the pipe connection, being in this respect independent of said pressure', while giving visual assurance with absolute certainty that the correct faucet is being operated. Accordingly, as herein shown, I extend the handle of the faucet, as indicated at a", so that its upper end will project considerably above the counter and at its upper end I provide a distinguishing device which serves to indicate the particular brand controlled by that faucet. For example, I may provide a knob al", having a iiattened face, on which some indicating device may be stamped, as indicated by the letter A or the cross shown in Fig. 1, or, if desired, the name of the maker of the brand may be stamped thereon, or the brand may be known by the color or by any other distinguishing' medium, the main idea being to have the indicator extend within visual and conspicuous range of the customer, so that he will instinctively recognize the indicator and rely thereon in his selection and will also learn to watch for the depression thereof as a means of knowing that his order is being filled properly.

I make no claim to the faucet, as any kind of faucet may be used, my invention residing in no particular feature or element, but in combining the parts in such a manner that the indicator (which is permanently connected with the faucet) will in the first place be visible at one time and not visible, or at least conspicuously and startlingly changed, at another time, according as it is being' used or not used, and will in the second place be sufficiently conspicuous and distinctive or attractive (such as the manufacturers name, trade-mark, or other insignia of origin, as shown) to command the attention of the customer, so that he will naturally rely thereon.

Let it be supposed that an ordinary bar is provided with my invention. The result is that instead of having the respective brands concealed and their relation to one another entirely unknown to the customer a series of indicators an am will stand prominently in the rang'e of the customer to challenge his notice and to enable him to select that particular brand of beverage which he desires. Having ordered the same, it becomes necessary for the bar server to grasp that particular handle and depress the same in the sight of the customer, who is thereby sure of fair treatment, the bar server is prevented from working a fraud, and the manufacturer is likewise protected. All concerned have in this invention a silent detective, rendering fraud so readily apprehended as to prevent thc probability of its being' attempted. It is a very simple mattei' for the manufacturer to send an inspector to watch the piping' of his beverage, and thereby prevent fraud by that means, whereas it would be impossible for him to prevent fraud by the old system of faucets, as indicated at as. The fact that the manufacturers inspector is liable to call unexpectedly, coupled with the fact that the parts are permanently connected, so that they cannot be readily y changed or improperly manipulated by the bar -attendant as the inspector approaches, render the bar attendant cautious, and as the indicator is so constructed as to be moved decidedly whenever the faucet is operated, thereby conspicuously showing to the customer which faucet is operated, it becomes impracticable to attempt any fraud.

Having described my invention, what I IOO ITO

claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is-

1. 'lhe ln-n'ein-described means for mechanically employing' trade-marks or other` insig'- nia of origin in connection with high-pressure beverage-dispensing apparatus for securingl and promoting' the cooperation of the customers and the beverage manufacturers in preventing fraud in dispensing' the beverages, consisting' of the combination with a bar, having' a stationary pipe connection with a remote source of beverage-supply, and a hig'hpressuredispensing-faucet located in said pipe at the bar, of an indicator, located always between the attendant and the customer, containing' the manufacture1"s name, trade-mark, or other distinctive and attractive insignia denoting' origin, and indicator-operating means for conspicuously visually altering' the indicator in such a manner as forcibly to attract the customers attention, said faucet and operating means operating' independently of and unaffected by the high pressure within said pipe connection, said operating' means including' permanent connection with the faucet for automatically actuating' the indicator in the act of operating' the faucet, and thereby prevent fraud as described.

2. As a means of preventing' fraud in dispensing' beverag'es under hig'h pressure, the combination with a bar, having' a pluralityof adjacent stationary pipe connections for drawing' respectively different beverages under high pressure from remote sources of supply, each pipe having' its own independent hig'hpressure dispensing'-fzuicet located at the bar, of indicators arranged side by side at the bar within the direct visual rang'e of the customer when being' operated under normal conditions by the attendant, and each containing' the mam1facturei"s name, trade-marl", or other distinctive and attractive insig'nia denoting' origin of the particular high-pressure beverage indicated thereby, and indicator-operating` means for each indicator, connecting' it with its individual faucet, for conspicuously altering the indicator in such a manner as forcibly to attract the customers attention in the act of operating' the faucet, said faucets and operating' means being' capable of operating' independently of and unaffected by the high pressure controlled by the faucets.

3. 'lhe combination with a bar, of a faucet below said bar, and an indicator connected thereto to move into sight above said bar and to disappear from sight below said bar, said indicator being' moved from one of said positions to the other in the act of operating the faucet.

4;. As a means of preventing fraud in dispensing' liquors, the combination with the bar or counter, of a faucet provided with a visual indicator normally extended prominently above the counter and depressed from the sight of the customer by the act of operating' the faucet.

5. As a means of preventing fraud in dispensing' liquors, the combination with the bar or counter, of a lfaucet having' an operating'- handle provided with an upward extension, whose upper end is provided with means for g'iving visual assurance that the correct faucet is operated, said means operating' in the direct range of vision of the customer ordering' a liquor, said means containing the trademark or other insignia of origin of the particular liquor, the movement of the handle g'iving' a wide amplitude of conspicuous movement to said trade-mark at the end of said extension` whereby the attention of the customer is drawn to said trade-mark and his cooperation is thereby enlisted to prevent fraud.

6. As a means of preventing' fraud in dispensing' liquors, a plurality of signals having different distinguishing characteristics in the nature of conspicuous marks of origin of the respective liquors, and having' a position in sight and a position out of sig'ht, and connected respectively to the different dispensing' devices, the movement of said signals from one of said positions to the other being' such as to attract attention and induce the customer to scrutinize said marks of origin, whereby he is led to watch for the movement of a g'iven signal when ordering' a corresponding liquor, and operating means for said sig'- nals, operated by the delivery of the liquor, for changing from one of said positions to the other the signal relating' to the particular liquor being' dispensed.

In testimony whereofl have signed my name to this specilication in the presence of twosubscribing' witnesses.

I-I EN RY A. RU IC'lER.

vitnessesz JouN E. Pon'rini, Sapin A. (nauam.

IOO 

